Bulletin: LA000010

As all of you are painstakingly aware, several courthouses have been closed
and some will remain closed for several more days/weeks. I will address the
Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish courthouses in later bulletins,
but for now I wanted you to know the STG guidelines during this challenging
time for Jefferson Parish.

The three issues that concern the issuance of title insurance are the ability
to perform a title search, the gap, and the recording of documents.

Title Search

Due to the fantastic work of Jon A. Gegenheimer, Clerk of Court for Jefferson
Parish, agents are able to perform title searches through their Internet based
product; JeffNet. Even though we do not anticipate the courthouse reopening
until somewhere around October 2nd, those companies subscribing to JeffNet will
be able to produce abstracts with a certification date of August 23, 2005. We
are confident that the records of this office are still in perfect condition.

The Gap

The Parish Government closed the Clerk of Court's office on August 26th and
no real estate records could be filed or will be filed until the office reopens.
All real estate documents presented by hand for filing on the day of reopening
will be recorded in the ordinary course of business as well as any documents
delivered by the Post Office. Stewart Title Guaranty is willing to take the
risk of the gap period on its policies as if there were no delay in business.

Recording of Documents

We encourage our agents to close transactions during this time and promptly
hand deliver all documents to the clerks office upon reopening.
All agents should continue to get the appropriate seller/owner/mortgagor affidavits
for all closings. Except as described above, and until otherwise notified, our
underwriting policies and procedures remain unmodified.

Please be very careful if you are traveling to the New Orleans area and let
us know if there are any employees who are looking for placement outside of
your business. We are getting several offers from other states as well as in
state offices to hire employees in need.

Thank you for your business and please call me at 1-800-209-4675 x4 if you
have any questions.

THIS BULLETIN IS FURNISHED TO INFORM YOU OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS. AS A REMINDER, YOU ARE CHARGED WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONTENT ON VIRTUAL UNDERWRITER AS IT EXISTS FROM TIME TO TIME AS IT APPLIES TO YOU, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER INSTRUCTIONS. OUR UNDERWRITING AGREEMENTS DO NOT AUTHORIZE OUR ISSUING AGENTS TO ENGAGE IN SETTLEMENTS OR CLOSINGS ON BEHALF OF STEWART TITLE GUARANTY COMPANY. THIS BULLETIN IS NOT INTENDED TO DIRECT YOUR ESCROW OR SETTLEMENT PRACTICES OR TO CHANGE PROVISIONS OF APPLICABLE UNDERWRITING AGREEMENTS. CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY, OR NONPUBLIC PERSONAL INFORMATION SHOULD NEVER BE SHARED OR DISSEMINATED EXCEPT AS ALLOWED BY LAW. IF APPLICABLE STATE LAW OR REGULATION IMPOSES ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS, YOU SHOULD CONTINUE TO COMPLY WITH THOSE REQUIREMENTS.